Conflicts
by Krispykreme14
Summary: Ruby; the young, naïve kittypet of the moment. The general house-cat cliché: cute, selfish and reclusive — to a point. Cat is an abused housecat in the rural part of town. How could they possibly meet? In the forest, no less? Crappy summary; sorry. :c
1. Prologue

**{Just a quick first-look into Ruby and Cat's conflicting lives. A sort of prologue. Not the kind you'd generally skip over, in my opinion. Thanks in advance if you've come this far.}**

The forest. Ah, the forest; such wonder and splendor it must contain. Ruby was never quite one for such obsessive curiosity. And why should she be? Her life was cozy and comfortable, with no strain aside from the occasional dirty box or low amount of food in her bowl. Indeed, her life was probably the definition of a perfect cat.

Of course, she was one of the fancily-groomed ones, having been raised on daily hot baths and only the best cat food on the market. Her housefolk, who had moved to a farm near the woods for some inexplicable reason, still treated her like royalty — and Ruby was just fine with that. Of course, all this spoiling evidently led to a selfish cat. Though slender and well-fit from all of her grueling exercises, she certainly would be on her way to morbid obesity if she quit her activities.

The young she-cat was still just barely more than a kitten, and so was not yet used for breeding purposes. She would, no-doubt, bear beautiful kittens — she was sure of it. She looked into the reflection of herself in the birdbath each and every day, and pleasure at being so lovely kept her ego boosted to maximum-size.

Now she walked along the blinding-white wooden fence gracefully, keeping her small paws balanced. Why was she so immensely curious all of a sudden, when it came to the forest just past her garden fence? It must only be some sort of fantasy that had drifted into her dreaming imagination during a restful slumber.

Ruby let the warm morning sun warm her ginger tabby fur, rejoicing in its familiar comfort. If her curiosity should ever get the better of her, she must simply remind herself of the perfect life she had. There could be nothing more satisfying.

"Raer!" Cat gasped in pain, shrinking away from another on-coming boot. The two-leg was shouting angrilyat him, kicking him anywhere it could reach and never stopping. Cat gasped as another blow landed to his head, just above his cheek. And he unable to fight back, as his two-leg had crudely cut off his claws at the first time of his trying to defend himself.

The two-leg yowled again, leaning down and picking up Cat by his scruff, digging its claws into Cat's sensitive skin through his fur. Cat howled in pain, though this only resulted in yet another hit, this time to his eye, which was already swollen shut from a previous blow. He wasn't yet aware of the dire crime he had committed this time to receivehis customary punishment, but eventually the two-leg would bring him to the scene of the incident and shove Cat into the closet, where he would no-doubt stay for at least a few sunrises; he could never tell how the day passed in the utter darkness. His only hope when this happened was to dash out when and if the two-leg forgot his presence and opened the closet to fetch something-or-other. It never seemed to work, but Cat's hope was never bruised, however much his body was.

A sharp stinging sensation erupted from the bleeding cut in his ear, and he winced from another ringing howl and pounded in his eardrums. The two-leg carried him painfully to the smell room, where Cat was thrown hatefully into the back wall of the closet, the familiar dent this time banging his shoulder. He hissed in pain as he slid to the floor helplessly. The door slammed, sending miscellaneous things falling on top of Cat. Fortunately these things were lighter than the last few times; probably just the fur-less pelts that the two-leg wore over its skin. He let out the customary croaky meow for an escape, but of course no one would come.

Climbing through the pelts, Cat finally settled on top of the mound, his aching limbs and searing cuts making him more exhausted. Closing his tired eyes, he fell asleep quicker than usual; maybe it was the pounding ache in his head making him so sleepy …


	2. Salvation

**{Aw, thanks for the awesome reviews. :3 By the way, yes, Ruby is an original character. I've yet to read The Rise of Scourge, though I apologize if it sounds as if she's based on a book character. At any rate, on we go!}**

"Yoo-hoo! Ru_-beee_!"

Ruby winced at the agitatingly shrill voice of her next-door neighbor, and bit back a hiss of annoyance. Her hopes of being alone had been dashed by the chubby she-cat across the fence.

"Ruby!" mewed Twinkle, trotting clumsilly up to her along the fence top. Ruby sighed; she may as well make it easier for the furball to walk. Gathering her haunches, she jumped down into the lush garden, color flowers with their pungent scents making her slightly dizzy. Of course, she was used to the light-headedness that came along with socializing in the garden.

Twinkle leapt down as well, though her landing was less than graceful. Jumping excitedly to her paws, she bounded over to Ruby, her light green eyes sparkling. "Ruby! Did you hear? Gerald's got a visit to the _vet _tomorrow, and he's trying his paw at anything to get out of going."

Ah, one of Ruby's favored pasttimes: gossip. One of the only reasons she liked Twinkle was that she always knew the best pieces of information going around the area.

"Great Friskies!" Ruby exclaimed, glancing in the direction of Gerald's little cottage. "The poor boy. I went there once for a check-up. The housefolk there don't even have regular food — it's utterly tasteless and _dry_!" They bothed shivered involuntarilly at the thought. "Plus, there's no milk anywhere, and the water they have is sour and yuck." Ruby grimaced at the terrible memory.

"Ooh, I've a craving for Fancy Feast just _thinking _about it!" Twinkle sniffed, her light pink nose high in the air. Twinkle was a pure-bred long-haired, snowy-white something-or-other. Ruby supposed she was pretty, though she wouldn't think of fawning over her as much as she did herself. Besides, Ruby had white paws, too, and a white chest, though she was short-haired and orange tabby. Still, Ruby found that her heart-shaped face was much more attractive than Twinkle's furry round one.

"What are you looking at?" Twinkle inquired, her head tilted to one side. Ruby turned to her, confused.

"You were staring at the fence, silly," Twinkle informed her, licking one paw daintilly.

"Oh — was I?" Ruby glanced back at the fence, though that wasn't what she'd been staring at, she knew; it was the slight gap between the fence posts, through which she had a clear view of the forest. Why was she becoming so infatuated with the world beyond, she wondered yet again. Morbid curiosity, she would normally guess, and leave it at that.

"So …" Twinkle murmured, trailing her forepaw in little circles across the dirt. "S'pose I'll be going, then." She stood up and shook the nonexistent dirt from her pelt, turned and headed for the other fence, where she would slip through a crack in the bottom.

"See you soon!" Ruby called, and Twinkle waved her bushy white tail at her before disappearing through the crack.

Ruby turned away and trotted back to the fence, and after a moment jumped back to the top, settling on the surface to get a better view of the forest. Of course, she'd never think of actually _going into _the forest — the thought was simply mad! — but at least she could always look at it any time she pleased.

-

A loud pounding coming from some other room startled Cat to full awakeness. Horrid timing it was, as well — he'd been dreaming that he was just about to catch a boot coming at him, and claw and bite at it until it perished.

The pounding became more insistent, and he stood up clumsilly, still not able to see in the blackness of the closet. What _was _that terrible noise? Was his two-leg getting hurt? The thought sent a shiver down his spine; his two-leg was the only one that had ever bothered to care for him, and only beat him when he really deserved it! Like when he made too much noise, for instance. The thought of life without his two-leg was incomprehendable.

A voice, unfamiliar but horrifying, echoed throughout the house. It yowled, and the voice of Cat's two-leg came in a booming response. Cat pressed his undamaged ear against the closet door, trying to listen better to what was happening. There was another howl from the first voice, this time sounding perhaps … shocked? Flabberghasted, even. Then a magnifiscent _bang!_ made the whole of the nest shake endlessly, and Cat's eardrums were strained once again. He heard his own two-leg shout in agony, followed by a vibrating _thump_. Had it been hurt? Cat yowled at the door, hoping his two-leg would hear him and come. It didn't matter if he recieved a worst beating than the last; as long as he knew his two-leg was okay.

Yet another unfamliar voice shouted out, and there was the sound of many pawsteps throughout the nest. Some came closer and closer to the closet in which Cat was hidden, and he shied closer to the corner, wishing that the pelts were still hanging so he could hide behind them.

Suddenly the closet was filled with light, and Cat squinted, his eyes desperate to adjust so he could see what was going on.

A smaller light, round and brighter than the last, shone directly in Cat's face, and he ducked his head to hide from it.

The voice of the light shouted to another, though this time it was clearer because it was so close, with no barrier between it and Cat. The bright light was lowered, and Cat came face-to-face with a new two-leg, this one wearing a blue pelt with a shiny golden spot on it. Suddenly, paws — much gentler than those Cat had felt for most of his life — scooped him up, and he winced at the pain in his bruised ribs.

The two-leg held him up to its face, seeming to observe him with a look of horror on its face. _Am I really so ugly? _Cat thought sadly. _My two-leg never called me ugly._ He let out a feeble mew, and the new two-leg cradled him to its chest, bleeting to him softly. Cat looked over himself, now that he could see, and saw that his dark-tan fur was in clumps, with bare spots appearing frequently. Dried blood caked his fur, and his tail seemed to be missing a tiny chunk. There wasn't a single part of him that didn't hurt.

The two-leg carried him from the smell room to the main part of the nest, where he saw the big room was a mess, more than usual. Looking down, Cat saw, horrified, his two-leg, lying on the ground, a small silver thing in one hand. He was laying in a pool of … blood? The soft, discolored earth seemed to be absorbing it sluggishly. Another blue-pelted two-leg sat a little ways off, this one with a large black thing in one hand, similar to Cat's two-leg's thing, though this one had smoke puffing from the end.

Cat stared for what seemed like seasons, until the two-leg holding him carried him out of the nest, into the outside world. Cat was still in a sort of shocked trance, and the new sunlight temporarilly blinded him, his bad eye stinging yet again.

Looking in the direction they were going, Cat saw with terror that they were headed for … a monster! This one black-and-white like a cow, but with a large gold spot similar to the one the two-leg's pelt bore. Worst of all, this one had flashing red and blue lights across the top — an extra set of eyes! Cat snarled ferociously and dug his jagged, short claws into the two-leg's pelt; it shrieked and dropped him, and Cat sped away from it as fast as his sore limbs would carry him. The rough rocky ground below him cut into his already-scabbed pads, but he kept running, away from the things that had taken his two-leg away from him. His dark blue eyes were set forward, though he was unsure where he was headed. Now his nest was no longer in sight, and he slowed his pace a bit, panting heavilly. He couldn't remember the last time he'd run so much, but his recent food deprivation was making him more rapidly tired. His eyes watered from the icy morning wind that seemed to have taken away the sun's previous warmth, and he shivered as it tickled his bald patches cruelly.

Finally, he crawled into the yard of some unfamiliar nest. It was much different from his own; neat and trimmed, with weird-colored flowers blooming here and there. He collapsed among the smelly plants, still panting. He thought he saw something ghostly-white in the eye of the nest. Another cat, perhaps, ready to kick Cat off of its territory? Cat didn't care for a fight at the moment, and closed his eyes just as the white cat yowled and dashed away from the opening to fetch something.

Cat felt himself drifting off to sleep, a strange, no-relaxation slumber. He thought he felt yet another pair of large paws pick him up from the ground, but perhaps it was simply the clouds, gently carrying him into the sky, away from his previous life.


End file.
